Rededication set for Vietnam War memorial

By Christopher Thomas Christopher.Thomas@JDNews.com

Published: Sunday, May 25, 2014 at 03:55 PM.

A memorial in honor of Vietnam War casualties will be rededicated after the completion of a new addition.

A dome has been added to the fountain at the Onslow County Vietnam Veterans Memorial off of N.C. 24 near Downtown Jacksonville and Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery. The re-dedication ceremony will take place on May 31 at 10 a.m. and is scheduled to include remarks from Maj.Gen. Ray Smith (Ret.) and Jacksonville Mayor Sammy Phillips.

The ceremony is free and open to the public.

“It started with the idea in mind that what happened to Vietnam vets when they came home, we needed something significant to say, ‘Thank you for your service and we do appreciate what you’ve done and we won’t forget,” Pat Walker, co-founder and secretary of the memorial board said.

The construction of the dome concludes the second stage of a project whose roots go back to 1998 when Pat Walker, her husband Lee — a Vietnam veteran — and fellow veteran Larry Fitzpatrick started planning and raising money for a memorial. The first stage of the memorial, which included the wall of names and a fountain, was completed in 2009 at a cost of approximately $1.8 million. Linda Odum, treasurer for the Onslow County Vietnam Veterans Memorial, says funding came exclusively from donations, including fundraising efforts at local festivals and flea markets.

“(We did) lots of festivals, a lot of volunteering and donations from people,” Odum said “There’s no government money in this whatsoever.”

The dome, which was completed in May, cost approximately $900,000 and was also funded through donations. Two other projects are planned for the memorial — a visitor’s center and a statue of a service member — though there’s no time table for those projects.

A memorial in honor of Vietnam War casualties will be rededicated after the completion of a new addition.

A dome has been added to the fountain at the Onslow County Vietnam Veterans Memorial off of N.C. 24 near Downtown Jacksonville and Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery. The re-dedication ceremony will take place on May 31 at 10 a.m. and is scheduled to include remarks from Maj.Gen. Ray Smith (Ret.) and Jacksonville Mayor Sammy Phillips.

The ceremony is free and open to the public.

“It started with the idea in mind that what happened to Vietnam vets when they came home, we needed something significant to say, ‘Thank you for your service and we do appreciate what you’ve done and we won’t forget,” Pat Walker, co-founder and secretary of the memorial board said.

The construction of the dome concludes the second stage of a project whose roots go back to 1998 when Pat Walker, her husband Lee — a Vietnam veteran — and fellow veteran Larry Fitzpatrick started planning and raising money for a memorial. The first stage of the memorial, which included the wall of names and a fountain, was completed in 2009 at a cost of approximately $1.8 million. Linda Odum, treasurer for the Onslow County Vietnam Veterans Memorial, says funding came exclusively from donations, including fundraising efforts at local festivals and flea markets.

“(We did) lots of festivals, a lot of volunteering and donations from people,” Odum said “There’s no government money in this whatsoever.”

The dome, which was completed in May, cost approximately $900,000 and was also funded through donations. Two other projects are planned for the memorial — a visitor’s center and a statue of a service member — though there’s no time table for those projects.

“A lot of people told us we couldn’t do it, that we’d never get it done and we proved them wrong” Mike Rooney, Vietnam Veteran Memorial board member said.

According to Odum, there are still 24 vacant plaques available for sponsorship by anyone who would like to honor or remember a Vietnam veteran. For more information, email vietvetmemorial@yahoo.com.